Process for graft polymerization

ABSTRACT

Aluminum trialkyl and aluminum dialkyl monohalide catalysts can be used to graft cationically polymerizable monomers, such as styrene, chloroprene, isobutylene, etc. to halogenated polymers with some highly reactive halogen atoms such as PVC, neoprene, chlorobutyl, etc.

United States Patent 1191 Kennedy et al.

-4 1 Sept. 9, 1975 PROCESS FOR GRAFTYPOLYMERIZATION [76] Inventors: Joseph P. Kennedy, 632 Lincoln Park East, Cranford, Union County, NJ. 07016; Francis P. Baldwin, 19 Winchester Rd, Summit, Union County, NJ. 07901 22 Filed: Jan. 8, 1968 [21 1 Appl. NO.Z 700,324

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Scr. No. 568,001, July 26, 1966, abandoned, which is a continuation-inpart of Serv No. 364,295, May I, 1964, abandoned.

[52] US. CL... 260/878 R; 260/23 XA; 260/32.8 A; 260/33.6 A; 260/33.8 UA; 260/45.75 K;

[51] Int. CIF... C08F 4/52; C08F 259/02; C08F 279/02 [58] Field of Search 260/878, 878 B, 879, 877, 260/884, 880, 878 R, 880 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,842,518 7/1958 Irvin 260/45.5 3,135,717 6/1964 Gregorian et a1... 260/45.5 3,143,521 8/1964 Thompson ct a1.... 260/45.5 3,144,426 8/1964 Burke et a1. 260/29.7

RIGID 3,187,067 6/1965 Beredjick 260/877 3,205,188 9/1965 Cole 260/29.7 3,253,057 5/1966 Landler ct a1. 260/877 3,267,051 8/1966 Landler et a1. 260/2.5 3,446,873 5/1969 Saito et a1 260/880 3,458,599 7/1969 Daumiller et a1... 260/879 3,476,831 11/1969 Daumiller et a1. 260/879 3,496,251 2/1970 Takahashi et a1 260/876 3,511,896 5/1970 Harmer 260/876 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 817,684 8/1959 United Kingdom 837,335 6/1960 United Kingdom 260/880 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Koekelbergh et a1., Ionic Grafting, J. Polymer Sci., 33:227234, (1958). a

Primary Examiner.1ames A. Sedleck Assistant Examiner-Stanford M. Levin 1 1 ABSTRACT Aluminum trialkyl and aluminum dialkyl monohalide catalysts can be used to graft cationically polymerizable monomers, such as styrene, chloroprene, is0butylene, etc. to halogenated polymers with some highly reactive halogen atoms such as PVC, neoprene, chlorobutyl, etc.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures ml. w'r. n0

IDIEIIEIIIEDSEP 9W5 3,904,708

RIGID PSI RIGID RBID PSI PSI FIG. 2

DEGRADATION OF OHI OROBUTYI MOLECULAR WEIGHT VS. TIME I l I I l l I I 300 ma e! -soc.

200 I I v I I50 I I I mam -soc AICI; 40%.

AIEI CI -|o'c. AIEICI 40%. 50- l I .L.. I I I ..-.#.-.-I-.-'%.. I

I I I I I I I i I I n 2 4 e a no [2 l4 a0 so TIME IN MINUTES PROCESS FOR GRAFT'POLYMERIZATION cRoss REFERENCES To RELATED APPLICATIONS c I This application is a Conti-nuationin-Part of copending commonly assignedapplic'ation.Ser. No. 568,001 filed July 26, 1966 now abandoned which in turn-is a Continuationdn-P'art of-co'pe'ndirig 'commonly assigned application Ser. No."364,295 filed May 1, 1964 now abandoned. BACKGRQU I'QE TH INvE'NIJQN j l -t'has been previously disclosed see P1 HsPlesch, Chem-and lnd'., page '954,:'Ju1y' 26, l958):that graft copolymers can be prepared by the grafting from method using AlCl'g', TiCl g, etc. catalysts to abstract chlorides from apolyv-inyl chloridebackbone-and subsequently to introduce a monomer such as styrene which polymeriz'e's at the'oa'rbonium ion site created 'on the backbone. There are many difficulties anddisad= vantages to this prior art-technique. Some of these are: a) only ininovquan'tities-and yields of' the graft polymerization' can 'be obtained even under the best circums'tances since'the kineticsof thereactio'n strongly favor the produc'tioriof homopolymer rather than graft polymerib) the backbone polymer -isseriously degraded; c) the catalyst solubility is'incompa'tible with the backbone polymer solubility, and d) the physical properties of the resulting materials are unsatisfactory.

,su'MMAaY. or HE INVENTIO This invention relates to a process for' synthesizing graft polymers from halogenated polymer backbones and the productsproducedthereby which can include the complete reaction productor selected portions thereof. Even more particularly, the invention relates to the graft polymerization of halogenated polymers with cationically polymeriiablemonomers and the resulting'graft polymers. I

It has now been discovered and forms the-substance of this invention, that graft copolymers can beiobta'ined using the process setforth'he'reininsubstantial yields and with only moderate amounts-ofhomopolymerformation. Moreover, the resulting blends of-graft'copolymers'and' homopolymers are also useful compositions. Therefore, it is not necessary in everyinstance to separate the graft polymer from the polymeric reaction product; I 5

In brief, the p'rocess of the invention involves-dissolving'a halogenated polymer in an inert solvent incorporating an Al(M) R compound and introducing a cationically polyrnerizablemonomer at a temperature of from about '90 to +70C. with agitation forperiod sufficient to complete the reac'tiOr'LQThe-contacting of these starting materials with eachoth'er can'be done in any order. However, it is 'least preferredtopremix the halogenated polym'erwith the Al(M') R compound. The halogenated polymer andthe"Al(M) l compound when used together act as the active catalyst system.

DESCRIPTION 0 THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The polymers suitable for use as'backborie polymers include any halogenated, i.e., chlorinatedgbrominated, iodinated. or fluorinated p'olymeri'riwhich the halogen atoms are'orian allylic; tertiary or be'nzyliccarbon atom. By allylic it is'meant t CH=CH and the like; by tertiary it is meant and the like; by benzylic, it is meant and the like, all when X is halogen. Chlorine-containing polymers are preferred. The polymers can be prepared from halogenated monomers or the halogen functional ity can be introduced with any suitable post-polymerization technique. Thus, most, hydrocarbon high polymerslcan be used as the backbone polymer for the synthesis after a suitable post-polymerization treatment. The inventionalso includes the concept of using halogenatedlow molecular weight materials such as chlorin ate d liquid paraffins, chlorinated waxes and the like. These liquid materialscan be regarded as being haloge nated oligomers. They should have at least 6 repeating units. If thefunctionality of the backbone polymer or oligomer is at the end of the chain, it is possible to obtain block copolymers of the AB type.

. Suitable examples of polymers which can be used in thebackbone are polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride,.polyvinylbromid e, polyvinylfluoride, polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), polyvinyl alcohol, polychloroprene, as well as polymers which have been modified by post-polymerization treatmentto introduce functionality, for' example, chlorobutyl, chlorinated polyethylene, chlorinated polypropylene chlorinated ethylene-propylene copolymer, chlorinated or hydrochlori- Hated, natural rubber, poly-cis-isoprene, poly-cisbutadi'ene, "polystyrene, polypiperylene, hydrochlorinated .butyl rubber, etc.

.However .it must be .noted that it is important that theipolym'er backbone or starting oligomer material mustnot containggroups which would interfere with the catalyst or deactivate it. Groups which :would tend to have this effectare -CO, COOR, --NH-, --SH, and NO. Thus, polymers such as polyacrylonitrile, polyacrylates, polyesters, nylons, polysulfides and the like are unsuitable for the purposes of this invention.

Itwill benotedlthat some of the halogenated polymers specifically set forth above are not normally thoughtto contain allylic, tertiary or'benzylic functionality, i.e., polyvinyl chloride. However, only a very small amount of such functionality is necessary, i.e., about 0.01 to 5 mole percent, preferably 0.1 to 3 mole percent, and most preferably,.0.5 to 3 mole percent is necessary. For some reason, such polymers contain adequate amounts of the requisite functionality to be suitable for the purposesof this invention.

Suitable cationically polymerizable monomers which can be usedin the process of the invention include isobutylene, styrene and its derivatives, propene, lpentene, 2-ethyl-l-hexene, butadiene, isoprene, chloroprene, dimethyl butadiene, piperylene, cyclopentadiene, cyclohexadiene, ,B-pinene, methylene norbor nene, etc. The list of cationically polymerizable monomers on page 286 of a book entitled Copolymerizations" edited by G. E. Ham, published by Interscience Publishers, New York (1964) is further illustrative of the monomers which can be used in the process of the invention. This portion of the book is incorporated herein by reference. c

The catalyst system, which is an essential feature of the present novel process, comprises l) a catalyst of the type Al(M) R, where M is a branched or straight chain C 1 to C alkyl radical and R is selected from the group consisting of M, hydrogen and halogen, and (2) a halogen containing polymer with the requisite functionality. For purposes of brevity, the compounds represented by the formula Al(M) R will be referred to as the catalyst though it should be realized that these compounds will, be themselves, not act as a catalyst in the:graft polymeriiations of this invention. The halogenated polymer is also part of the catalyst system and really a macro coinitiatori Catalyst components which are not operable in the process of the invention can be represented by the formulaIMeZX where Me' isany metal (including boro'n .;z ca either be X or an alkyl radical. x is halogen and )1 number from 2'to '5. Therefore, compounds of the type MeZX,, should not be present in the reac tion in quantities sufi'lcient to exert catalytic effects.

The'catalyst' components utilized in the present novel catalyst' systein are these compounds represented by the general formula Al(M)' R, where M is a branched or straight chain alkyl group having from 1 to 12 car bon atoms and R'is selected from-the group consisting of M,- hydrbgen and halogen. Suitable catalyst com pounds coming within-the scope of the above general formula include: diethyl aluminum-chloride, dipropyl aluminum chloride, diisopropyl aluminum chloride. dibutyl aluminum chloride,-dii'sobutyl aluminum chloride, dipentyl aluminum chloride, dihexyl aluminum chloride, didecyl aluminum chloride, diethyl aluminum bromide, diisobutyl aluminum bromide, dioctyl alumi- 1 num bromide, didodecyl aluminum bromide, diethyl aluminum iodide, dibutyl aluminum iodide, diheptyl aluminum iodide, dinonyl aluminum iodide; ethyl propyl aluminum chloride, propyl butyl'aluminum chloride,'ethyl propyl aluminum bromide, diethyl aluminum hydride, dibutyl aluminum hydride, dihexyl aluminum hydride, t'rimethyl aluminum,.-triethy-l aluminum, methyl diethyl-aluminum dimethyl ethyl aluminum, triisobutyl aluminum, trihexyl aluminum, etc. The compounds of the subclass illustrated by the formulas AIR;, and AIR X where R is a straight chain alkyl group having 1-12 carbon atoms and X is halogen, are preferred. Particularly preferred are triethyl aluminum and diethyl aluminum chloride, which will be used here for illustrative purposes. a

Diethyl aluminum chloride, which is commercially available, is a clear colorless liquid with a melting point of 74C., and-a boiling point o f 208C. Thesubstance is highly reactive with oxygen and ,will burst into flames in air and react Violently with water. It is miscible with saturated aliphatic and alicyclic hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, carbon disulfide, etc. Diethyl aluminum chloride may be prepared from aluminum triethyl and aluminum chloride according to the following formula: 2Al(C H AlCl 3Al(C H Cl In general, any inert solvent can be used. For the purpose'of this invention inert solvents are defined as those which will not.-deactivate thecatalyst. Suitable examples of such solvents are aliphatic hydrocarbons, e.g., pentane, hexane, or chlorinated hydrocarbons, e.g., methyl chloride, ClCI-I CH Cl, o-chloro-toluene, carbon disulfide, methylene dichloride, carbon tetrachloride, chlorobenzene, toluene, cyclohexane, methylcyclohexane, etc.

v The temperature at which the synthesis is carried out will range from to .90, preferably +40 to and most preferably +30 to 70C.

Moreover, in certain situations, the process of the invention can becarried out with no solvents. In these instances, the unreacted monomers would act as the solvent. For instance,.certain low molecular weight polyvinyl chlorides can bedissolved in liquid styrene monomer. Upon addition'of the catalyst, the grafting reaction will be initiated and will be limited only by the disappearance of the monomer, i.e., liquid phase.

Using the technique of this invention, great control can be exercised over the type of branches which are synthesized on the backbone polymer. These grafted branches can be long, high molecular weight chains or low molecular weight oligomers having only a few units. Moreover, it is possible to .form graft polymers where the branches are copolymers. An example of this is the grafting of a copolymer of isobutene and a diene into polyvinyl chloride or chlorinated ethylenepropylene rubber.

It is one of the advantages of this invention that great scope is afforded to the synthesizer to produce products of widely varying properties. For instance, materials such as polyvinyl chloride can be grafted with monomers such as isobutylene to produce clear pliable films and pads on compression molding. Thus, by utilizing the technique of the invention, polyvinyl chloride, normally a brittle material, can be superplasticized by the graft branches so that the addition of extraneous plasticizers which are normally absolutely essential can be dispensed with or the required quantity can be greatly reduced. The materials which have been plasticized by grafting according to the process of this invention, are referred to as internally plasticized polymers..

The versatility of the inventionis also evident in a completely different aspect. Thus, it is possible to graft cationically polymerizable diene monomers to a polymer backbone to produce sulfur vulcanizable materials. For example, isoprene was grafted onto a halogenated. ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber. The resulting product was sulfur cured using a standard vulcanization recipe. Its volume swell and per cent insoluble characteristics were almost identical to that of a sulfur vulcaniZable ethylene-propylene terpolymer obtainable commercially from DuPont as Nordel.

It is also possible to obtain unusual polymers having both the properties of a thermoplastic resin and of an elastomer. Thus, when styrene is grafted onto a halogenated butyl rubber backbone, the resulting graft polymers have an unusual molecular configuration in which the butyl rubber backbone elastic phase is chemically bound to a repeated glasslike polymer phase, i.e., the polystyrene glass, to result in a material which is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1. This material may be thought of as analogous to a cured rubber'where the cross-links are the glass-like phase and the backbone is the elastic phase. Thus, elastic properties in a thermoplastic material can beobtained.

In a typical polymer of this type, the stress relaxation was investigated at 30C. under a variety of extensions (from l0100 percent) and over a variety of times (from 1 day to 2 weeks). The unvulcanized sample did not show pennanent set after one month of testing, i.e., it completely recovered its original length and shape. Apparently, the rigid polystyrene areas are held together by strong enough bonds so that the overall system behaves like a vulcanized unit. However, the cohesion between the rigid areas can be disrupted by so]- vents, i.e., the system is soluble. Moreover, these graft copolymers have very peculiar solubility properties. For example, a particular butylpolystyrene graft con taining about 40 mole percent polystyrene was soluble in methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and in n-he'ptane, solvents which do not dissolve both individual components, i.e., butyl is insoluble in MEK andpolystyrene is insoluble in n-heptane. Nevertheless, the graft is soluble in both of these systems, possibly because the soluble moiety drags the insoluble moiety into solution.

Thus, it will be apparent from the above and the Examples which follow that the physical properties of the graft polymers will be determined from a variety of factors including the choice of the starting backbone material, the cationically polymerizable monomers used, the backbone to graft branching ratios, etc. The graft polymers will have properties ranging from materials which have elastomeric properties to materials which have plastic properties and those with properties therebetween.

To account for these unique phenomena, a theory has been proposed. It is, in its basic aspect, the supposition that the halogenated polymer or halogenated oligomer is in reality a macromolecular Cocatalyst in conjunction with Al(M) R. Thus, the macromolecular cocatalyst is in effect an initiator which is itself incorporated into the newgraft polymer. Schematically, the concept can be expressed as follows.

AlEt Cl Polymer-Cl Polymer AlEt Cl (functional polymer containing very few functional sites) Polymer AlEt- Cl nM* Polymer-MMM MIVIMQ AlEt Cl ing units which become a branch of the new graft copolymer.

The invention will be further illustrated by the following Examples. In these Examples, all syntheses were carried out in dry glass equipment in a stainless steel dry box under a nitrogen atmosphere.

EXAMPLE 1 10 ml. ,styrene 10 ml. n-pcntane 0.13 ml. AlEt Cl Charge:

The charge was stored at -50C. It was a perfectly clear solution. 1st. Control Experiment- 3 ml. of the charge solution was placed in a test tube and stored at 50C. for a period of 3 hours. During this time no change was noticeable in the system. 2nd Control Experiment 2 ml. of the charge solution was placed into a test tube and 0.03 ml. text-butyl chloride was introduced at 50C. Immediately vigorous, almost explosive polymerization took place and large amounts of polystyrene formed. Conversion was complete. (This experiment indicates that the catalyst system is active.) Experiment(A)- Into the remaining 15 ml. of charge solution at 50C.. was introduced 2 ml. of the chlorobutyl solution. Immediate cloudiness indicated a reaction. After 30 seconds large amounts of white polymer filled the tube. The reaction was terminated by adding a few mls. of methanol. Polymer Characterization The reaction product was placed in 1000 ml. of acetone for 15 hours at room temperature. Acetone is a solvent for homopolystyrene so that this treatment removed this constituent. V A small amount of acetone soluble homopolystyrene .was removed. After acetone extraction, the polymer was dried in vacuum at 50C. Yield 2.572 g. of brittle white powder.

Thus, the reaction product contains 0.077g. chlorobutyl backbones and 2.505 g. polystyrene branches.

A small sample of the reaction product was placed in acetone, an excellent solvent for high molecular weight homopolystyrene but a nonsolvent for chlorobutyl. The sample did not dissolve in acetone indicating the pres.- ence of Chlorobutyl.

Another small amount of this product was placed in toluene, an excellent solvent for both, chlorobutyl and polystyrene. The sample dissolvedin toluene.

These solubility tests indicate the presence of a graft copolymer. Infrared spectra confirmed this.

The thermal behavior of the graft copolymer and a control polystyrene sample was investigated on a hotstage microscope under polarized light. Thus, a small amount of graft copolymer and a similar amount of polystyrene (from control experiment 2) were placed side by-side on a microscope cover plate and the heating was turned on. Simultaneous observations were made as follows:

Temperature C. Graft Copolymer Control Polystyrene Experiment (B) This experiment was carried out under identical conditions to Experiment (A) except a more dilute styrene was used. Thus 10 ml. styrene 7 2l() ml. n-pcntanc 0.13 ml. AlEuCl C hargc:

The charge was'stirred in a beaker at -50C. it was a completely clear solution. At 0 time, 22 ml. of chlorobutyl solution (containing 0.845g. chlorobutyl) was introduced into the styrene charge at --50C.) Soon haziness developed and after about 6 minutes of chlorobutyl addition the solution became cloudy. After minutes, fluffy white polymer appeared. The reaction was terminated 41 minutes after chlorobutyl introduction. At this time, large amounts of polymer were visible. It was extracted with acetone and dried. The yield after drying, etc. was 1.7707 gfof pliable springy transparent film. Thus, this graft copolymer contained 0.845 g. chlorobutyl backbones and 0.925 g. polystyrene branches. g

The thermal history of the product produced in Experiment (B) observed on a hot stage microscope, together with a control homopolystyrene was as follows:

Temperature C. Graft Copolymer pressure. not shape retaining Products obtained in these two experiments contain different amounts of styrene which explains their different physical appearance. The product obtained in Experiment (A) contains large amounts of styrene branches and is a brittle powder. The other obtained in Experiment (B) contains much less styrene branches and is a springy, pliable film.

Other monomers which can be used with chlorobutyl include isobutylene, butadiene, isoprene, piperylene, etc., vinyl ethers, benzyl chloride, and the like.

Other backbone polymers that can be used include polyvinyl chloride, poly-2-chloroethyl vinyl ether, etc. Final polymer properties would be determined by the two parent materials, i.e., backbone and branch, as well as by the relative concentration of the two parent components.

EXAMPLE 2 Grafting Styrene Onto Chlorobutyl Rubber Commercially available chlorobutyl (visc. average mol. wt. 406,000, percent C1 1.21, l number 9.1 corresponding to l .34 mole percent unsaturation) was dissolved in dry n-pentane, precipitated into acetone, redissolved in n-heptane, reprecipitated into acetone and dried for about 3 hours in a vacuum oven at 60C. Fifty g. of the cleaned material was dissolved in 450 ml. dry n-pentane- (-10 percent solution) and cooled to 50C. This solution was somewhat cloudy but it was pourable at 50C. I

In the meantime, a charge was prepared by mixing ml. of freshly distilled styrene with 900 ml. dry nheptane at 50C. in a 1 l. beaker equipped with stirrer and thermocouple. To this charge was added 2.6 ml. AlEt Cl. The whole operation was carried out in a stainless steel dry-box under a nitrogen atmosphere.

At 0 time 455 ml. chlorobutyl solution (or 45 g. chlorobutyl) was added into the charge under vigorous stirring. A l C temperature rise was observed on mixing of these solutions. After about 23' minutes of stirring at 50C., the reaction mixture became noticeably thicker. After about 28 minutes a heavy gel mass filled the reactor and stirring became very difficult. The color of the reaction mixture turned gradually to orange/At this point, a few mls. of methanol and about 1 l. of acetone were added to the mixture and the system removed from the dry-box. The product was stirred and kneaded with 3 liters of acetone until it became snow white. The acetone was decanted and the product was washed by kneading with 1 l. of acetone 5 times. Finally, the acetone wasfiltered off and the acetone solutions discarded. The acetone insoluble product was extracted with hot methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) by stirring it in this solvent over night and filtering. Subsequently. the MEK solubleproduct was precipitated into acetone, filtered and dried. The process yielded 495 g. of white tough polymer.

The graft copolymer was analyzed as follows: Solubility studies The product was soluble in methyl ethyl ketone, n-heptane and toluene. This indicates grafting since chlorobutyl is insoluble in MEK and polystyrene is insoluble in n-heptane. The fact that the product dissolved in both of these solvents indicates the presence of a copolymer and that the soluble part of the copolymer pulls into solution the insoluble moiety.- Toluene is a good solvent for both components. Solubility in-this solvent was expected.

Differential Thermal Analysis The DTA spectrum of the material shows the presence of butyl (second order transition point at 74) and-polystyrene (second order mer contained 39.7 wt. percent polystyreneand 603 This again indicates wt percent butyl species.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance fAnalysis Th NMR H spectra of the graft was analyzed comparing it to spectra of pure Chlorobutyl and homopolystyrene. This analysis indicated the presence o f about60 mole percent isobutylene and 40 mole percentsty ene in the graft copolymer. I

Elemental Analysis The chlorine content of the graft copolymer was less than 0,2 .p ercen t. The original chlorobutyl backbone contained 1 2lpercentCl. This data indicates that grafting was quite extensive. Physical Properties V Melting Pro'pe'rties ona Heat Stage Microscope I Visual observations were made to the physical appearance of,the polymer on a microscope equipped with a heated s tage. The following recordwas obtained. Heating rate was about 4C./rnin. 1

Compression Molding The graft polymer milled on small cold rubber mill and subsequently compres sion molded at 320F; for 60 minutes in'a rubber pressl i The following data were obtained on physical properties testing: a g i Modulus, psi L Q Tensile. Elongation, worm 300% 300 "400 7,; 500% 'psi g {/l 4uz' m 857 952 190 The compression molded test pieces were clear .transparent productssAll the products remained soluble'lin toluene after compression in the press;

Casting from Solvents The graft polymer solved in MEK, n-heptanc and toluene and 'films'were cast on a mercurysu rfacewAll these films were optically clear and tough. Stress Relaxation Rings were molded from the graft polymer land i'ts'stre'ss relaxation 'was determined at 303C from 10 to 100 percent extension from 1 day to I 2'wee'ks Data s'how that the graft copolymer didnot exhibit permanent set after ll month of testing, i.e., it

completely recovered its original length and'shape. In

contrast, luncrosslinked homopolyisobutene flows apart under identical testing conditions.

ExAMPeEs Styrene Onto Chlorobutyl Rubber The purpose of this experiment was to prepare graft copoly mer at 7 0C. using a higher styrene/Chlorobutyl ratio than previously. l V I Chlorobutyl was purified by dissolving and reprecipitation,as described in,Exarn.ple 2. Then 23.04 g. of

.chlo robutyl was dissolved in 438 ml. of dry npentane (about 5 percent solution), cooled to C, and introduced into a charge consistingof ml. styrene, 900

ml.- n-pentane and 1.3 ml. AlEt Cl at ,7 OC. under the general conditions described in Example 2. The temperature of the mixture rose by 1C. upon mixing the ingredients. n I

After 10 minutes of stirring at -69C the content of the reactor startedto. thicken; after 12 minutes it was a very. viscous .systernyafter 'l 7 minutes it was hardly possibleto stir and a yellowcolor appeared. Signifi- -cantly,after,20. minutes ofstiriring theviscous system loosenedup and after 22 minutes .of stirring the pale yellow. system became completely fluid. ,After 24 minutesthe system started to thicken againand the .color deepened to light orange. After 38; minutes of stirring, 2 ml. cold methanol waszaddedand subsequently 400 ml. acetone was introducedw A white-slurry was obtained which -was poured into 2 l. of acetone. The slurry .wasallowed to settle and the e'learacetone was decanted, washed twice with l l; of acetone and decanted; then centrifuged and .washed twice with acetone. Subsequently, the product was extracted with refluxing acetone under a N; atmosphere over-night and filter'edri r The a'ce'tone insoluble product was extracted with methyl ethyl ketone on the steam bath,-filtered and precipitated with methanol, washed with "acetone and dr'iedi'Yield 15470 g. of white hard solid.

This product was analyzed as follows: Solubility clear solution in toluene, opalescent solutionsin n-heptane and methyl ethyl ketone.

48C. softens under pressure starts to melt largely melted completely molten Melting behavior (hot stage microscope):

' Infrared analysis Comparison with pure Chlorobutyl was dis and polystyrene indicates thepres'eneeof 37.5 wt. percent Chlorobutyl and 62.5 Wt. percent of'polystyrene.

\ NMR Analysis Comparison with the pure compo- EXAMPLES 410 6 Ii Grafting Styrene Onto Chlo r obutyl was prepared, The chlorobut yl was purif ed as described in Example 2. Th echlorob utyl solution was divided into 3 parts and;to -each-'part was added 39 ml. (35.36 g. or 0.34 moles) styrene and 350 mi. n-hexane. Thus,in these 3 experiments the charge consisted of l() gll chlorobutyl in 39 m1. styrene and 550ml. n hexane and to tl'iese charges was added at differentte mperatures the catalyst solution (0.43 mlfAlEtQCl'in'lO n-hexan e). I I

The rail at +11c'. Uponadditlon of the catalyst, the

clear reaction j'mixturebecarneclou dy then milky and an ora'nge color developed. The temperature rose'to +29C. for a short'while. The reaction was terminated (35.3.6g. 0.034 moles) styrene and 350 ml. n-hexane and stirred at 50C. To this solutions was added at -50 the catalyst solution 0.043 ml. (0.041 g.= 0.00034 mo1es).A. 1Et Cl in 10 mln-hexane. After 138 minutes of stirring the reaction was terminated by introducing methanol and the product was extracted with 3 liters of acetone. However, chemical and spectroscopic analysis indicated that under these conditions, i.e., using a low catalystqoncentration no substantial grafting had taken place. Thus, the acetone insoluble product had a molecular weightof I 37 l ,500 (original chlorobutyl 373,000), chlorine content of 1.14 wt. percent (original chlorobutyl 1.15 wt. percent) and iodine number 6.18 (original chlorobutyl 5.77). Infrared and NMR spectroscopy showed no evidencefor polystyrene in the'sp'ectira of I this product. I

The acetone extract was evaporated. It was found that this extract contained only traces of a white polymeric product. i I i 33 minutes after catalyst introduction by the addition and then3 l. acetone; After acetone extractiomfiltration and drying in 'a vacuum o v en at-60C.; the yield was 18.4 g. graft copolymer, a tough transparent material. The combined acetone extracts yielded 27.80 .g. acetone soluble product,- (pure polystyrene). The run at 50C. The system-suddenly gelled 10 seconds after catalyst addition and turned orange. Stirring became almost impossible and the temperature rose to -3 8C. The gel was broken up by working with a spatula and introducing 100 ml. :n-hexane. The reaction was terminated 30minutes after catalyst introduc- .tion.byv adding 2 ml. methanol and then 3 l. acetone. After acetone extraction, filtration and drying i na .vac- ,uum oven at 60" C. the yield was,,17. 5 g.-graft copolymer. The acetone extractswyielde'd 26.56 g. pure homopolystyrene. l l I The followingtable summarizes analytical results obtained with these three runs;

Grafting Styrene Onto chlorobutyl Rubber 1 v I II The. purpose of this experiment was'to observe the effect of catalyst concentration on graft copolymer' properties.

' EXAMPLE 8 Grafting Styrene Onto Chlorobutyl Rubber In this series of experiments on AlEt catalyst was used for grafting. However,'before the grafting experiment, several preliminary experiments were carried out to establish the activity of the catalyst, and the fact that A1Et will not initiate a reaction unless in the presence of a co-catalyst.

A. In the first preliminary experiment, a solution was first prepar'ed of 35.4 g (39 ml) styrene in 350 ml of carefully purified n-hexane'and maintained at 50C. From this solution a 10 ml aliquot was removed and 0.5 ml AlEtg was added to it at 50C. No reaction occurred for 2 hours at this temperature. This experiment indicated the complete inactivity of AlEt toward styrene.

The experiment. was continued by introducing into the quiescent mixture slowly 0.3 ml tert.-butyl chloride, which is a powerful co-catalyst in conjunction with AlEt as disclosed in US. Ser. No. 364,295. Shortly after co-catalyst introduction, the clear solution becamehazy, then increasingly cloudyfSince polystyrene is insoluble in cold n-hexane the cloudiness in this experiment indicated that polystyrene formation and consequently it indicated the activation of AlEt by the tert.-butyl chloride co-catalyst. An identical experiment was also carried out at 20C. In these experiments a small molecule (tert.-butyl chloride) was used as a co-catalyst to initiate the polymerization of styrene. 1n the following experiment, a polymer molecule (chlorobutyl) was used as the co-catalyst to induce polymerization.

B. A charge was prepared of 50ml styrene and 1 m1 A lEt and stirred at 20C. in the dry box under nitrogen atmosphere. To this charge was introduced a prechilled 10 g. chlorobutyl in analysis: mol. wt: 373,000, 1.15 percent Cl, iodine number: 5.77.) Immediately the system became cloudy, then milky and the temperature rose sharply to +lC. Stirring became difficult. Twenty minutes after the introduction of the chlorobutyl solution the reaction was terminated by introducing 2 ml methanol and 2 liters acetone. Subsequently, the prod- A chargc was prepared consisting of 10 chlorobu-" I I frared analysis indicated that the graft copolymer contyl (0.0034 moles C1) in 200 ml. n-hexane, 39 ml.

uct was exhaustively extracted with large amounts of 50C,, 17.1 g. of hard plastic product was obtained. In-

sisted of 55 Wt. percent chlorobutyl and 45 percent polystyrene. Chlorine analysis of the sample indicated the presence of 0.58 wt. percent Cl and the iodine number was 4.88. g l

The acetone extracts were combined, evaporated and precipitated into methanol. A total of 22.8 g. of product was obtained which aninfrared analysis was found to be pure polystyrene.

The acetone insoluble graft copolymer was compression molded and a clear, rubbery sheet was obtained. When this sheet is stretched opalescence .appears which disappears when the stretching force is released and the film retracts to its original shape. A similar sheet was obtained by casting from toluene solution,

EXAMPLE 9 Grafting p-Chloro Styrene Onto Chlorobutyl Rubber In this experiment, p-chloro styrene was grafted onto chlorobutyl. The purpose of the experiment was to change the second order transition temperature of the branch from +100C. for polystyrene to +127C. for poly-p-chlorostyrene.

24.54 g. of chlorobutyl (representing 6.05 X 10 mole chlorobutyl or 0.0083 mole .Cl) was dissolved (purification as in Example 2) in 181 ml dry n-pentane and 100 ml methylene chloride and the solution was thermoequilibrated at -50C. The chlorobutyl molecu-, lar weight was 406,000, 1.21 wt. percent or, iodine: number 9.1. The chlorobutyl solution was added to a charge consisting of g. (0.072 moles), pchlorostyrene, 3 ml (2.87 g. 0.024 moles) AlEt C1 in 100 ml methylene chloride at 50C. The temperature rose to 46C. on catalyst addition and the reaction mixture turned yellow. 35 minutes after cocatalyst (i'.e chlorobutyl) solution introduction an aliquot of 100ml of the reaction mixture was removed from thereactor. To terminate the reaction in this 100 ml sample this aliquot was introduced into a beaker containingi3 rnl diethyl amine in 30 ml methyl chloride. The productwas extracted with hot acetone, centrifuged washed with acetone, dissolved in toluene, centrifuged, reprecipitated into acetone, washed again with acetone, and dried in vacuum oven at 60C. The yield was 7.168 g. graft copolymer; a white tough material. Infrared analysis indicated the presence of 74.5 wt. percent chlorobutyl and 25.5 wt. percent poly-p-chloro's'tyrene. NMR analysis showed about 82 mole percent isobutylene and 14 mole percent p-chlorostyrene. The acetone soluble portion, 0.149 g., pure chloropoly-pchlorostyrene. i

The remaining solution in 50C. for a total of 165 mins. after cocatalyst introduction. Then the reaction was terminated by introducing a diethyl amine in methylene chloride solution, extracted with acetone and worked up as described above. The yield of acetone insoluble graft copolymer was 19. 164 g.; a tough white material. Infrared analysis indicated the presence of 75.0 wt. percent chlorobutyl and wt. percent poly-p-chlorostyrene,' NMR spectra showed about 88 mole percent isobutylene and 12 mole percent p-chlorostyrene. The acetone soluble portion was 0.505 g. homopoly-p-chlorostyrene.

These data indicate that under these conditions pheseresults also show that the amount of homo poly-,p-chlorostyrene formed under these conditions is .verylow, (0.654 g.) asscompared to the total graft copolymer obtained (26.332 g.)

Thev graft copolymers were dissolved' in toluene and films were cast. flhesefilms are optically clear, flexible and strong.;-": 1 I I "EXAMPLE'IO c n c .Grafting a-MethylStyrene Onto Chlorob'utyl Rubber The purpose of this run was to prepare a graft'copolymer ,with poly-wmethyl styrene branches on achlorobutyl backbone. The second'order transition temperatureof poly-oz-methyl styrene is +170C.,:that of chlorobutylis about %-74C. 1 t

The backbone polymer solution was prepared by dissolving 15. g: chlorobutyl (commercial product HT 1066, purification described in Example-2) in 250 ml dry n-hexane-and coolingto 50C. Thisgsolution was added toa charge consisting of 63 ml (57.3g.) freshly distilled a methyl styrene in 250 ml n-hexane and 0.61 ml AlEt Cl at 50C. Upon polymer introduction the system imme'diatelythickened considerably, stirring becameextremely difficult, and the color turned orange, Stirring was impossible after 4 mins. of polymer addition. Consequently, the reaction was terminated by introducing 100 ml. methanol. Subsequently. the product waskneaded in 2 l. methanol,filtered and dried in a vacuumoven at 60C. Yield 63.7 g. white powder. Acetone-extraction removed 6.74 g. of material. The acetone extracted material, 56.5 g., was completely soluble in methylenechloride and mostly soluble in dioxane. Since pure chlorobutyl is largelyinsoluble in meth ylenechloride and.is completely .insoluble in dioxane 1 andpoly-a-methyl, styrene is readilysoluble in these two solvents, the acetone extracted product is a graft copolymer; The graft copolymer was dissolved in toluene and films were cast. These films were slightly hazy and brittle.

EXAMPLE 11 Grafting Styrene Onto Chlorinated Ethylene Propylene Rubber v 1 The purpose of this run was to demonstrate the grafting with a chlorinated EP rubber backbone. The chlothe reactor was stirred at chlorostyrene can be grafted onto chlorobutyl and that n 6 rines in EP rubber are probably in the tertiary position in the chain; 7 1 j this solutionswas added 35 ml (31.7 g= 0.305 moles) styrene and ml n-hexane andlcooled to46C. This solution .was quite viscous at this temperature level but it could be stirred readily. At 0 time was added the catalyst solution 0.5 ml

(0.48g=0.004 mole) AlEt- Cl in 10 ml n-hexane to the stirred system at -46C. The reaction mixture became gradually more viscous and opalescent. After 33 mins.-

of stirring the reaction was terminated by introducing about 100 ml toluene containing a few mls of methanol. To the viscous liquid system wasadded about 1 l. acetone and a rubbery white mass was obtained. The rubbery product was removed from the acetone, squeezed dry and dissolved in toluene. Some toluene insoluble material was centrifuged off (0.106 g). The toluene solution was precipitated into methanol, dried in a vacuum oven at 60C. Yield 5.66 g graft copolymer. The acetone soluble extract contained 28.03 g solid homo polystyrene. I I

The toluene soluble material is a white very tough plastic. This is a graft copolymer as indicated by infrared spectroscopy, i'.e., infrared shows 33 wt. percent ethylene-propylene copolymer and 67 wt. percent polystyrene. 1

The graft copolymer was dissolved in toluene and a film was cast on a mercury surface. This film was clear, transparent, pliable, and strong. The product was compression molded to clear transparent tough films.

EXAMPLE 12 Grafting Styrene Onto Polyvinyl chloride The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the feasibility of grafting polystyrene branches onto a polyvinylchloride (PVC) backbone.

23.73 of PVC (Geon 103) was dissolved in 1200 ml (BaO dried and distilled) o-chlorotoluene (2 percent solution) and the solution was cooled to 30C. This solution was introduced at 30 into a charge consisting of 100 ml styrene and 2.25 ml AlEt Cl under vigorous stirring. The temperature rose to 27C. and the system became yellow. The reaction was terminated 46 mins. after cocatalyst (PVC) addition by introducing a few mls of methanol and then transferring the whole system into 6 l. of methanol. The white precipitate was settled over night, filtered, washed with methanol, and then with n-pentane to remove last traces of ochlorotoluene. Yield 44.15 g white powder.

Since PVC is insoluble in cyclohexane whereas polystyrene (PS) is readily soluble in this solvent, the product was extracted with 1,800 ml refluxing cyclohexane for 1 hour and then stirred for 3 days at ambient temperature. Then it was filtered, washed with cyclohexane, and dried in vacuo at 60C. Yield 25.14 g graft copolymer, a white powder.

The cyclohexane soluble part was recovered by precipitating into methanol. Yield 1 1.48 g pure homopolystyrene.

The cyclohexane insoluble graft copolymer contains 92.7 wt. percent PVC and 7.3 wt. percent PS by infrared analysis. This material was compression pressed and a homogeneous, clear, transparent, and pliable film was obtained.

Elemental analysis of the graft copolymer gave 43.84 percent C., 5.36 percent H and 50.55 percent Cl. PVC (Geon 103) gave 38.67 percent C, 4.85 percent H and 55.93 percent Cl.

When a physical mixture was prepared from 93 permerized polystyrene and the physical mixture was compression pressed, a hazy, heterogeneous film was obtained. I I

EXAMPLE 13 Preparation of Graft Polymer with Polyvinyl Chloride Backbone with Polyisobutylene Branches 6( cent PVC (Geon 103) and 7 percent canonically poly- I 10 g of polyvinyl chloride (commercially available Vinylchlon 3000-35H' (4000)) was dissolved in 900 ml 1,2-dichloroethane under gentle refluxing. The solu tion was cooled to -30C. and at this temperature ml isobutene monomer was gradually added to it until the initially completely homogeneous system became faintly hazy (maximum amount of isobutene in the system under these particular conditions). To this system at -30C. was added'the catalyst solution prepared by diluting 2 ml AlEt Cl with 9 ml 1,2-dichloroethane. Grafting commenced instantaneously on catalyst introdu'ction and was noticeable by a rise in temperature (T 10) and by milkiness developing in the reactor. About 13 mins. after catalyst introduction 2 ml methanol was added to the reactortoquench the reaction and the content of the reactor was transferred into 2- /z l. of n-pentane. The slurry was allowed to settle overnight. At this point, the system was centrifuged, the pasty product washed thrice with n-pentane and centrifuged again. Finally, the product was dried in vacuo at 50C. Yield 12.538 g of white powdery material (graft). v

The pentane solutions were combined (about 4,000 ml), concentrated by evaporation of the solvent on a steam bath to about 500 ml and precipitated into a large amount of methanol. This pentane soluble fraction was then collected and dried in vacuo at 50C. and 55.4 g of rubbery polymer was obtained polyisobutylene (PIB). v

The graft polymer was placed into 400 ml tetrahydrofuran (a solvent for PVC). A'slightly hazy solution was obtained. This solution was heated (reflux) on a steam bath overnight and precipitated into 6 l. of methanol. The fluffy precipitate was filtered, dried in vacuo at 50C. and l 1.0 g white powdery product was obtained.

Concurrently with the graft polymerization the following control runs were carried out.

Control 1 1 m1 1,2-dichloroethane and 0.6 ml AlEt Cl were mixed at 30C. To this mixture 1 ml isobutene was added. No polymerization occurred even after30 mins. standing at this temperature.

Control lll ml isobutene and 0.6 ml AlEt Cl were mixed at 30C. then 1 ml 1,2-dichloroethane was added to the solution. The system remained clear and no polymerization occurred even after 30 mins.

Control lIl-To 5 ml solution of PVC in 1,2- dichloroethane (as prepared above) was added 0.6 ml AlEt Cl, but the system remained unchanged (homogeneous solution) even after 30 mins.

Characterization of the Graft Copolymer Infrared Analysis'l"he infrared analysis of the graft copolymer indicated the presence of 6.5 wt. percent polyisobutylene branches and 93.5 wt. percent polyvinylchloride backbone (in the pentane insoluble fraction).

Elemental AnalysisChlorine analysis of the graft copolymer showed 43.29 percent Cl down from 56.8 wt. percent Cl in pure PVC indicating that a large amount of grafting has taken place.

Solubility StudiesThe graft copolymer was studied in various hot solvents:

NonSolvcnts: CS swells, cloudy gel (Cl,: slight swelling (HCl z fluffy gcl "lolucnc: swells, cloudy gel -Cntinued Solvents: .THF: ,mostly soluble, hazy solution Benzaldchyddz' 3 soluble, clear Acetophenone: soluble, clear 1 l ,Z-Ethylenc dichloride: soluble Melting Behavior-The I graft; copolymer I and some PVC were placed side-by-side on .a mi'croscopeco ver glass and their melting behavior was notedon a hot stage microscope as follows:

Observations i Temp. Graft I Observations PVC 1 softens softens l 32 compresses compresses 165 a further softening furthcr softening l78 further softening clear spots showing 191 becoming plastic becoming plastic' 195 plastic. hutstill ,lTlCltCd, clear shows dark areas In this experiment 45 g. PVC (Geon lO3) was1di ssolved under heating in 3,000 ml l,2-dichloroethane and the solution cooled to -30C. Subsequently, 50 ml isobutylene was added to the solution at ,30C. which became slightly hazy. The following is' a time log of the experiment: l

Action Time 0 mins. Catalyst introduced. The eatalyst is'2 ml AlEt Cl in 10 ml LZ-diehlorocthanc.

8 Reactor content hazy. temperature 29C.

48 Catalyst introduction continued: 4 ml AlEt Cl in 10in] .l .Z-dichlorocthane. r

56 Catalyst introduction contiritied: 3.3 rhl AlEt Cl in 10 ml LZ-dichloroethanc. i l

(:3 Catalyst introduction continued; 1.1 ml AlEt Cl in 5 ml LZ-diciilorocthane."

7o Catalyst introduction continued: 4 ml AlEt Cl in l0 ml l .2- dichlorocthane.

I28 Catalyst introduction continued: 4 ml AIEt- Cl in l0-.m|

I.2-dichloroethane.

I53 Reaction terminated by introducing) ml methanol. then the whole mixture was poured into about 8 I. methanol. White fluft'y precipitate forms and settled overnight. The precipitate was filteredU-transfcrred into a 5 l flask and I: n.-.pentanc was added 4000 ml). The prcci tate was refldxed with n-pent'tir're for} hrs, cooled off, allowed to settle. the pentanc decanted off and fresh pentartc was added to the insoluble prccipitate which was then again refluxed for 2 hours. This pentanc extraction was repeated once more at which point a test showed that the pentane did not contain any soluble material (i.c:. whenthe pcntane solution was addedto methanol it remained clear). The product was then filtered. dried in vacuo overnight and weighed: 47..l g white, static powder.

Pentane soluble fraction recovered by precipitation in methanol and drying in vacuo: 5.754 g. i

Characterization of Graft Polymer I 1 Infrared Analysis lndicated 1 1 wt. percent polyisobutylene branches and 89 wt; percent PVC backbones present in the graftpolymer (pentane insoluble frac- O i) 5 i Elemental Analysis-Chlorine analysis of the graft copolymer shows.48.02 percentCl. against 55.93 percent Cl "in the PVC used-as the backbone. SolubilityStudies-As with Example 1.

Melting Behavior'As with Example 1.

Observations Temp, CY Graft PVC v 96F. slightly compressed unchanged 105 I compresses softens l 12 starts to melt compresses I20 melting" compressesmelting, clear compresses, clear in the middle 'l80 compresses clear soft plastic Pliability Studies-As in Example 13. The graft copolymer gave a clear pliable'filmwhich could be easily wrapped around a pencil.

Tensile lmpactTest method; ASTM No. D l822-6lT. Sample preparation: 20 g resin mixed with 0.8 g Thermolite 3.1 stabilizer (i.e.-, 4 percent stabilizer in resin) and compression molded pads at 370F. for -306O seconds with -7,000 lb./inch pressure.

Graft: PVC (own 103 Tc'nsilc'impact (FL-lbsl/ineh): l60 (aver. of3) I (aver. of 4) Importantly the surface of i the cut of the graft was ragged and blushed the neck was strongly elongated in comparison the PVC showed a clean cut and no blushing. l i i Flexural Stiffness-ASTM (Stiffness of Plastics by Cantilever Beam) D747-63.

Resin compound (in g)( Compression molded pads as in Tensile Impact Test) III IV V VI can 10 I0 Gcon 103 10 10 10 10 Thcrmolitcil ,0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 Dioctylphthalatc; l .5 2.5 Stearic-Ac'id 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 Stiffncssin 2.07 2.76 L83 2.71 l .84- [.83

*Organo-tin stabilizer niadehy M811 Chemicals. Inc.

with both components.

EXAMPLE 5 Grafting lsobutylene'OntoPolyvinyl Chloride 1 v For comparison. purposes there-was-prepared a physical mixture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and pol'yis'obw tene (F18). The polyvinyl chloride used in these studies was the same as that usedin the grafting experiment, i.e., Vinylchlon =and. Geon =l03. The 'homo.polyisobutenes were obtained .fromthe. pentane-"extracts of the above grafting experimentsand consequentlygwerefot all practical purposes .identical to the polyisobutene grafted onto the PVC. Both polymers, PVC and H8 were dissolved in a common solvent,, e.g., chlorobenzene, and coprecipitated into methanol. The relative amounts of these two pol'yinersjn the common solvent were 89 percent PVC and 11 percentPlB- to correspond with the relative amounts in the graft copolymer as determined: by infrared analysisIThis coprecipitate represents an intimate physical mixture of these two materials. I

The physicalfmixture of PVC-PIB was compression molded; A badly discolored, heterogeneous completely unacceptable product was obtained.

Under identical conditions the graft copolymer of 89 percent PVC/ 1 1 percent PIE gave optically clear, transparent, pliable, homogeneous films.

' g EXAMPLE l6 In this ex-arhpleaseries of runs was carried out in which AlEtCl catalyst was used. The purpose'of this experiment was .to distinguish between AlEtClgcata lyst, which is a borderline representative of the conventional Friedel-Crafts type catalyst whichdoes not require the extraneous and purposeful addition of a cocatalyst to acquire v polymerization activity, and the catalysts of the invention. AlEtCl and similar catalysts, e.g., AlCl SnCl BF TiCl etc. when contacted with styrene,,.isobutene and other cationically initiable monomers under ordinary low temperature conditions=im-.- mediately initiate the. polymerization of these. monomers' and do not need extraneous cocatalysts introduc-v tion a a I A few polymerization runs were carried ,out with AlElCl under. conditions identical to thoseused in Example 2 except AlEtCl was used in placeofAlEt Cl. ln Example 2, the introduction sequence of components were: 1. monomer (i.e., styrene), 2. catalyst (i.e., AIEt Cl) and 3. cocatalyst (i.e., chlorobutyl). When this experiment was carried out with AlEtCl and the AlEtCl was introduced into the styrene charge at 50C. immediate and vigorous polymerization oc'g curred and large amounts of polystyrene formed. ltiwas useless to add to thissystem the chlorobutyl solution because the styrene monomer had already been largely consumed in the homopolymerization reaction. Consequently. this system only yielded a mixture of two ho'-' mopolymers, homopolystyrene and unchanged chlorobutyl.

In another run'with-AlEt'Cl the' styrene and 'chlorobutyl were mixed in a common solvent and to this so-' lution the AlEtCl catalyst'was added. -Thus,- 3.5g stysmall amount of methanol, and the reaction mixture was exhaustively extracted with acetone. The acetone extracts gave 21.3 g product which on infrared analysis was found. to be pure homopolystyrene, having a number average'molecular weight of 4,188. The acetone insoluble material was extracted with toluene yielding 8.7 g toluene" soluble and 7.4 g toluene insoluble crosslinked gel. Both the toluene soluble and'insoluble mateiials contained chlorobu tyl' and polystyrene species separately. I

The toluene soluble fraction (8.2 g) was a white powdery product which on compression molding under the conditionsdescribed in Example 2 resulted in strongly hazy and' very brittle films which tenaciously adhered to the aluminum foil used in the mold of the press. Due to the brittleness of the sample, it was impossible to handljt' vvithout'breaking and no physical testing could be carried out. The haze-and cloudiness of the films were a distinct indication of an inhomogeneous material, i.e., individual and separate homopolystyrene and chlorobutyl species in the product.

I "in an effortto improve the physical properties of this product, the toluene soluble fraction was separated into two fractions by extraction with methyl ethyl ketone Both the methyl ethyl ketone soluble 3.85 g) and insoluble (4.( l g) fractions were white powders which on compression molding again gave brittle and hazy films strongly adhering to the aluminum foil.

The melting properties of the toluene and methyl ethyl ketone soluble fraction were investigated on a hot stage microscope. The following observations were made:

Temperature, C. Observations 76 Part slightly compresses under pressure 82 Partly compresses under pressure 95 Most compresses under pressure 103 Compression progressing under pressure I l l Softcr, still dark on edges I I5 Plastic. still dark on edges l3() Soft plastic clear throughout I37 Flows under pressure obtained;

rene in 350 ml n-hexaneand lO 'g chlorobutyl in 200" ml n-hexane were mixed and equilibrated at -5()C. Then 0.35 ml AlEtCl catalyst in .10 ml n-hexane was introduced gradually. Immediately polymerization started and the temperature rose to 46.5C. After 30 minutes of stirring the reaction was terminated with'a' tyl gives acceptable physical properties.

A similarseries of experiments were carried out with AlCl catalyst. If the sequence of introduction of components is: l. monomer, 2. catalyst and 3. cocatalyst,

the monomer immediately polymerizes on AlCl catalyst addition and homopolymer i.e., homopolystyrene) is formed.

Thus. the experiment with AlCl can be only carried out by introducing thejcatalyst last which severely limits the flexibility of the process. in addition, the physical properties of the products obtained in this manner with AlCL, were completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable.

Another factor which severely limits the scope of the process withAlCl is due to the insolubility of AlCl in hydrocarbon solvents. in other words, the AlCl must be dissolved in methyl chloride or .ethyl chloride, .etc. to render it usable at all. w w I However, in contrast to hydrocarbon solvents which readily dissolve chlorobutyl, chlorobutyl is largely insoluble in methyl chloride; .is sparingly soluble in ethyl chloride, which fact again strongly limits the applicability of the process with AlCl Keeping in mind the above limitation, reaction condi tions were worked out to establish the most favorable conditions for apolymerization trial using AlCL, as the catalyst.

A charge consisting of 39 ml (35.4 g) of styrene in.

350 ml ethyl chloride and g chlorobutyl .in 200ml ethyl chloride was mixed and stirred at .l 1C. The temperature could not be lowered-below l.1C. because of the insolubility of chlorobutyl in the system. The catalyst solution was 1 1 ml of a 4 percent AlCl solution in ethyl chloride containing 0.45 g or 3.4 X 10*. mole dissolved AlCl The reaction was started by adding the AlCl solution to the charge. The temperature rose to 2C. indicating the onset of the polymerization of styrene. After 30 minutes of stirring the reaction was terminated by the introduction of methanol. The product was extracted with acetone, precipitated into methanol, filtered and dried. Acetone removed 17.2 g product, which was substantially pure polystyrene, having a molecular weight of 4,3 83. The acetone insoluble prod: uct was dissolved in toluene. Most of the product dissolved in toluene (only 0.462 g toluene insoluble gel was recovered) and the toluene soluble fraction was found to be soluble in methyl ethyl ketone also.

The latter fraction was a powdery, off white product. lts melting properties were investigated on a hot stage microscope. The following observations were made:

Temperature, C. Observations 100 Compresses under pressure 102 Clearing. softening 107 Clear when comprcsscd 1 Soft plastic 1 19 Clear softplastic, does not flow 130 Clear soft plastic, does not flow 140 Very soft plastic 14x Liquid EXAMPLE 1? Grafting lsobutylene Onto Neoprene I The purpose of this experiment was to graft isobutylene onto neoprene (polychloroprene). To 20 ml isobutene at 10C. there was added 0.25 ml 10 drops,

0.002 moles) AlEt Cl. As expected, no reaction occurred. After 6 minutes of agitation at l() there was introduced 0.473 g neoprenein 10 ml chlorobenzenc (5 percent neoprene in chlorobenzene) solution. The system immediately turned yellow and the temperature increased to +20C. The isobutene started to boil for a 1 22 short while. 'lwenty minutes after theneoprene addition, the reaction was terminated by introducing methanol. The white, rubbery product was washed with methanol and driedin a vacuum oven at 50C. Yield 5.955 g. The product was extracted with 200 ml refluxing n-pentane for 24 hrs., centrifuged, washed with npentane Neoprene is insoluble in mpentanewhereas polyisobuteneis readily soluble in this solvent. The result was: pentane insoluble fraction 0.580 g; pentane soluble fraction, after precipitation in methanol, drying, etc., 5.282 g.- Both fractionswere analyzed by infrared spectroscopy. -The pcntane insoluble fraction showed. wt percent neoprene and 40 wt. percent polyisobutene whereas the pentane soluble fraction shows 7 wt. percent neoprene and 93 wt. percent polyisobutene. These data show that extensive grafting occurred and, that a small amount of neoprene rich (polyisobutylene, poor) and a relatively large amount of neoprene poor (po lyisobutylene rich) graft copolymer was obtained. 1

EXAMPLE l8 Grafting lsobutene OntoNeoprene V .lnthis experiment 5 ml isobutene and 10V ml chlorobenzene were stirred in the presence of 0.1 ml (0.0008 mole) AlEt Cl at 50C. To this quiescent solution 0.166 g neoprene in 10 ml chlorobenzene (1.66 per.- cent neoprene) solution was added. lmmediately after the mixing of these components the temperature of the system started to rise until it reached l0C.; yellow color developed, and the, viscosity started to increase. About 1 1 minutes later, the reaction was terminated by introducing cold methanol containing a small amount of li-phenyl naph tliylamine stabilizer. Theproduct was dissolved in chlorobenzene and reprecipitated into methanol. A portion of the methanol insoluble product was extracted with. refluxing npentane and 0.792 g white, rubbery material was obtained which oninfrared analysis showed 9 wt. percent neoprene and 91 wt. per-, cent polyisobutene. The other portion of the methanol insoluble product 2377 g was not extracted with pentane; it was only washed several times with methanol.

The latter product was also analyzed by infrared spectroscopy which showed the presence of 7 wt. percent neoprene and 93 wt. percent polyisobutylene. This experiment showed that when the grafting is carried out at relatively low, temperatures, an essentially homogeneous soluble graft copolymer is obtained which consists of -8 percent neoprene backbone and -92 percent polyiso bute ne branches.

I EXAMPLE 19 Grafting lsobutylene Onto Neoprene In this experiment ml isobutene in 300 ml ethyl chloride solution was stirred "in the presence of 3 ml (287g or 0.23. mole) AlEt Cl catalyst at 78C. To this system a 4.2g neoprene in 600 ml ethyl chloride solution was introduced at 78C. After 15 minutes of stirring, the temperature slowly rose to 77C. and after another33 minutes, it rose to --76C. After 37 minutes of stirring the content of the reactor suddenly became rather viscous and the temperature rose to 74C. At this point the reaction was terminated by introducing chilled methanol containing B-phenyl naphthylaminc, and the product was transferred into 1 of npentane. After exhaustive extraction in 1.5 l pentane. filtration from a smallamount of ash (0.135 g), precipitation into methanol containing ,B-phenyl naphthylamine and drying in a vacuum oven at 50C. yield was 305 white. rubbery product. Infrared analysis indicated 6 wt. percent neoprene backbones and'94 wt. percent polyisobutene branches. Differential refractometry confirm ed this analysis showing 5. wt. percent neoprene and 94.5 wt. percent polyisobute'ne.

This graft copolymer was subsequently cured using the following recipe (in parts): product l00, stearic acid 0.5, phenyl oz-naphthylamine 2.0, MgO 2.0, ZnO 5.0 and 2-mercapto imidazoline 0.5. The blends were compounded on a cold mill and cured'for 20 and 60 minutes at 307F. to give satisfactorily cured pads.

EXAMPLE 20 Grafting Butyl Rubber Onto Neoprene These experiments demonstrate that ja copolymer branch can be grafted onto a backbone polymer. Thus, butyl rubber, a copolymer of isobutylene and isoprene was grafted onto neoprene.

A charge was prepared consisting of 142.5 ml isobutylene and 7.5 ml isoprene in 300 ml ethyl chloride and 3 ml (2.87 g or 0.23 mole) AlEt Cl catalyst and stirred at 78C. in the dry box under nitrogen atmosphere. The cocatalyst solution was 5 g Neoprene WRT (commercial product, thrice dissolved in chloroform and reprecipitated into methanol) dissolved in 720' ml ethyl chloride. The grafting reaction was started by introducing 600 -ml precooled neoprene cocatalyst solution (containing 4.2 neoprene) into the quiescent charge at 7SC. The system became cloudy immediately upon the introduction of neoprene solution and the temperature rose to' 7 6C. The reaction was terminated 76 minutes after neoprene solution addition by introducing 20 ml methanol containing a small amount (about 0.1 g) of B-phenyl naphthylamine stabilizer. During the course of the reaction, several sm'allaliquot samples were withdrawn to constantly check the solubility of the product. After termination with methanol the product was poured into a 5 l vessel and contacted with a mixture of 1500 ml n-pentane and 1500 ml n-heptane. A cloudy solution was obtained. Filtration was attempted but the cloudy solution went through the filter paper. The solubility of this cloudy solution was tested by dissolving a 10 m1 aliquot in a small amount of toluene. A clear solution was obtained. These facts indicate that the neoprene which per se is completely insoluble in normal aliphatic hydrocarbons, e.g., n-pent'ane or n-li'eptane, was solubilized by thepentane soluble butyl chains attached to it. When the cloudy graft solution was contacted with toluene, which is a good solvent for both components, i.e., neoprene and butyl, a clear system was obtained. I i i Then the entire cloudy graft solution was reprecipitated into -9000 ml acetone, let settle, decanted, washed with acetone, collected, and dried in a vacuum oven at 50C. Weight: 36.5 g rubbery product. Repeated solubility tests show that the rubberj'was soluble in ortho chloro toluene, toluene and gave a cloudy solution in n-heptane indicating the presence of graft copolymer. I

The following control experiments as correlaries to Example were carried out:

A. Butyl control. When 3 ml of a feed containing 2.43 ml isobutylene and 0.67 ml isoprene was stirred in 18 ml ethyl chloride in the presence of 0.06 ml AlEt Cl at 78C. no reaction occurred even after 2 hours of stirring at this temperature. This control experiment indicates that the 'AlEt- Cl catalyst alone is inactive.

B. Neoprene control. 12 ml Neoprene solution in ethyl chloride containing 0.0835 g. neoprene was diluted with 9 more ml of ethyl chloride solvent and stirred in the presence of 0.06 ml AlEt Cl. No crosslinkin'g, i.e., gelation occurred even after 2'hours at 78C. However, gelation occurred in the presence of AIEtCI EXAMPLE 21 Grafting'Styrene Onto Neoprene This example and example 22 show that graft copolymers can be obtained with polystyrene branches on neoprene backbones. t

A charge was prepared of 5 ml styrene in '15 ml ethyl chloride and stirred in the presence of'O. 1 ml (0.096 g or 0.0008 mole) AlEt Cl at 50C. The grafting reaction was started by introducing a precooled solution of 0.125 g neoprene in 20 ml ethyl chloride. Immediately upon contacting the solutions the content of the reactor started to get more viscous and the temperature started to climb until after 3 minutes it reached 30C. At this point, the reaction was'terminated by introducing 500 mls of "methanol. A white polymer settled out. The product was soluble in toluene and methyl ethyl ketone. The methanol was decanted and the product was extracted with acetone and washed with acetone. The acetone soluble fraction was 0.149 g white, powdery product, homopolystyrene. The rest of the product 3.124 g was completely soluble in methyl ethyl ketone.

Since neoprene is insoluble in methyl ethyl ketone (whereas polystyrene is readily soluble in this solvent) this solubility characteristic indicates the presence of a graft copolymer.

: EXAMPLE 22 Grafting Styrene Onto Neoprene Example 21 was repeated with larger amounts of materials. Thus, a charge of 55 ml (50 g) styrene in 200 ml ethyl chloride and 0.5 ml (0.48 g or 0.004 mole) AlEt- Cl catalyst was stirred at 50C. A grafting reaction was initiated by introducing a solution of 5 g neoprene in 200 ml ethyl chloride. Immediately after the introduction of the latter solution, the temperature rose to 36C. and the content of the reactor became very viscous. The reaction was terminated by introducing a few mls of methanol containing 0.1 g B-phenyl naphthylamine stabilizer and then pouring the entire mixture into 2000 ml acetone. Acetone extraction yielded 8.924 g white powder whichwas homopolystyrene. The rest was dissolved in 700 ml methyl ethyl ketone, centrifuged from some insoluble material, precipitated in methanol and dried; 29.2 g fluffy, solid product was recovered. The methyl ethyl ketone insoluble centrifuged product was dissolved in chlorobenzene, precipitated into methanol and dried: 9.6 g of product was obtained. i v I EXAMPLE 23 Grafting Chloroprene Onto Chlorobutyl Rubber In this and subsequent experiments, chloroprene was grafted onto chlorobutyl backbones. A charge was prepared 'of 1.5 ml freshly distilled chloroprene (2-chlorol,3 butadiene) in 50 ml n-hexane and stirred in the presence of 0.17 ml (015g or 0.0012 moles) AlEt Cl EXAMPL 24 Gfafting Chloroprehe "O n to Chloiobut'ylRu bber In this experiment,asolution'of 7f2 chloroprenein 50 ml n-hexane was stirred in the presence of 0.33 ml (0.32 g or 0.0025 moles) AlEt Cl catalyst at 50C. To this system a solution of 7.2 g chlorobutyl in 150 ml nhexane solution was added to initiate reaction. The system became yellow. The reaction was terminated 31 minutes after chlorobutyl solution addition. In the course of the reaction, numerous samples were withdrawn to check the solubility of the system and for other purposes. Thus, after working with methanol and drying, only 6.590 g of a rubbery product was recovered. Of this product 5.576 g was extracted with 250 ml n-hexane by stirring for 60 hours. The hexane soluble fraction was precipitated into methanol, dried in a vacuum oven at 50C. and weighed: 5.394 g white, rubbery product was recovered and analyzed for chlorine. Chlorine analysis indicated the presence of 2.70 wt. percent Cl. This indicates the presence of grafting since polychloroprene is insoluble in n-hexane, nevertheless the hexane soluble fraction recovered contained more chlorine than the chlorobutyl backbone used to initiate the graft copolymerization. Chlorine analysis of the original chlorobutyl indicated 1.15 wt. percent CI. Thus, the difference, 1.55 wt. percent Cl, was due to polychloroprene branches in the product. Monomeric chloroprene could not be entrapped in the rubber because it was recovered by reprecipitation into methanol and dried in a vacuum oven at 50C. The boiling point of chloroprene monomer is very low (59.4C.)

The presence of polychloroprene branches in the r EXAMPLE 25 Grafting Chloroprene Onto Chlorobutyl Rubber The charge, 7.5 ml (7.2 g) chloroprene in 50 ml nhexane in the presence of 0.33 ml (0.32 g or 0.0025 moles) AlEt Cl, was stirred at 40C. To this system a hite rub ry material was cornpreeooled solution of 7.5 g chlorobutyl in 150 ml hex- 26 covered; This product wasahaly zed for chlorine. The analysis showed'thep'resence of 1.91 percentCl.

"lhie 'chlorobutylf usefl to initiate "the grafting reaction contained 1.40"wt. per cent ClfThese data indicated grafting since polychloroprene is insolublein n-hexane, however, hexane soluble fraction contained 0.51 percent thoreichlorin'e than the. original chlo'robuteiie introduced. iodine number-analysis ,also corrobol k i l i i i the prese nce of glrgaft copolymer. Thus, whereas 'tlie iociine number of the original chlorobutyl was 7.93,

'nujmbe ofithe hexane soluble product was l iirially, lthe iiitrin sic viscosity of chlorobutyl in ,diis oi tylene solutionf was corresponding to a viscosity ayerag e molecular weight of 371,500, the in- ;trijnsic viscosity of the hexanelsoluble graft copolymer under the same conditions was 1.536 corresponding to a viscosity average molecular weight of 515,000.

EXAMPLE 26 Polymer Degradation Studies A series of experiments were carried out with the AlCl AlEtCl AlEt Cl, AlEt catalyst series to (a) to study polymer, e.g., chlorobutyl, and butyl degradation and (b) to distinguish AlEt Cl and AlEt from the conventional AlEtCl and AlCl catalysts. Briefly, it was found that under these experimental conditions. AlEtCl and AlCl severely and immediately degraded chlorobutyl, whereas AlEt C-l was much milder and under suitable reaction conditions dis not degrade chlorobutyl. AlEt did not degrade chlorobutyl at all.

The experimental procedure was as follows: A 5 wt. percent chlorobutyl or butyl rubber solution was prepared in n-hexane and stirred at the selected temperature (e.g., 10 or 50C.) in the dry-box under nitro gen atmosphere. The precooled catalyst solution was introduced at 0 minute and aliquots of samples were removed H2, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes after catalyst introduction. The amount of catalyst added was calculated to correspond to a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio i.e., 1 mole of catalyst was added per atom of chlorine in chlorobutyl and the same quantity of catalyst was added to the butyl solutions as well. The aliquot (withdrawn) samples were introduced into test tubes containing methanol to terminate degradation and to precipitate the polymer. After drying, the molecular weights were determined.

Butyl rubber was not degraded at all in the presence of AlEt Cl catalyst at l0 or 50C. However, severe molecular weight degradation occurred under essentially identical experimental conditions in the presence of AllEitCl at 10" and 50C.

FIG. 2 shows experiments carried out with chlorobutyl. As the figure indicates, chlorobutyl did not degrade at all in the presence of AlEt at -10C. Little degradation occurred with AlEt Cl at 50C. In contrast, chlorobutyl very severely degraded in the presence of AlEt Cl at 10C. and in the presence of AlEtCl and AlCl at 50C. and at 10C.

These experiments show that under suitable conditions, little, if any, degradation occurs with the catalysts of the invention used in graft copolymerization. However, in the presence of conventional Friedel- Crafts catalysts, e.g., AlCl AlEtCl severe molecular weight breakdown occurs and even if grafting would be possible with these catalysts, the backbones would be severely damaged resulting in much inferior products.

amethyl styrene, p-chloro styrene, propen ef l-p enten e, v

2-ethyll -heXene, isoprene, chloroprene, dimethylbutadiene', piperylene, c yclopentadiene, cyclohexadiene, beta-pinene and methylene norbornene with a halogenated polymer selected from the group consisting of polychloroprene, halogenated polyisoprene, halogenated polybutadiene, halogenated polypiperylene and halogenated butyl rubberv in the presence of a catalyst Consisting essentially of a compound having the for- .mula AIM- R wherein M is a C C alkyl radical and R is selected from the group consisting of M, hydrogen and halogen-wherein said polymer is the backbone of said graft polymer, said reaction is carried out in an inert solvent at'a' temperature of from about 90 to about +C.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the catalyst is selected from the group consisting of AIR- and AIR X where R is a straight chain alkyl group having 1 to 12 carbon atoms and X is halogen.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein the catalyst is triethyl aluminum or diethyl aluminum chloride. 

1. A PROCESS FOR PREPARING A GRAFT COPOLYMER WHICH COMPRISES REACTING A CATIONICALLY POLYMERIZABLE MONOMER SELECTED FROM HE GROUP CONSISTING OF STYRENE AMETHYL STYRENE PCHLORO STYRENE PROPENE 1-PENTENE 2-ETHYLEHL-1-HEXENE ISOPRENE CHLOROPRENE DIMETHYLDUTADIENE PIPERLENE CYCLOPENTADIENE CYCLOHEXADIENE BETA-PINENE AND METHYLENE NORBORNENE WITH A HALOGENATED POLYMER SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF POLYCHLOROPRENE HALOGENATED POLYISOPRENE HALOGENATED POLYBUTADIENE HALOGENATED POLYPIPERYLENE AND HALOGENATED BUTYL RUBBER IN THE PRESENCE OF A CATALYST CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A COMPOUND HAVING THE FORMULA AIM2R WHEREIN M IS A C1-C12 ALKYL RADICAL AND R IS SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF M HYDROGEN AND HALOGEN WHEREIN SAID
 2. The process of claim 1 wherein the catalyst is selected from the group consisting of AlR3 and AlR2X where R is a straight chain alkyl group having 1 to 12 carbon atoms and X is halogen.
 3. The process of claim 1 wherein the catalyst is triethyl aluminum or diethyl alumiNum chloride. 